Former Senate President Stan Rosenberg: 'I have a vote and a voice'

BOSTON -- Former Massachusetts Senate President Stan Rosenberg is now simply a Democratic state lawmaker from Amherst: He has no committee assignments, a basement office and no title other than senator.

Yet, Rosenberg does not want to be counted out of statewide policy debates.

"I have a vote and a voice, and I have a long history of people viewing me as a policy wonk in the legislature," he said. "That's what this is all about, is moving good policy."

Rosenberg stepped down from the Senate presidency amid an ethics investigation into whether he broke any Senate rules related his husband Bryon Hefner's alleged sexual misconduct and access to Senate business.

Sen. Harriette Chandler, D-Worcester, has taken over the chamber's leadership for this session. Rosenberg, meanwhile, has separated from Hefner.

In a phone interview with The Republican/MassLive.com, Rosenberg did not rule out trying to return to Senate leadership.

"I'm in a different situation obviously than I was six and 12 and 36 months ago, but when the ethics investigation is completed, hopefully there will be other opportunities available for me," he said.

Asked if he was contemplating a return to the Senate presidency, Rosenberg said he's taking things "one step at a time."

"I'm getting my signatures, running for re-election and looking for the resolution of the ethics investigation," he said.

Chandler has said she will not run for another term as Senate president in 2019, but several senators are angling for the position, including Eric Lesser, D-Longmeadow; Karen Spilka, D-Ashland; Sal DiDomenico, D-Everett; and Eileen Donoghue, D-Lowell.

Rosenberg, meanwhile, said he plans to focus on several statewide policy issues. One big debate is what will happen with the proposed 2018 ballot questions.

Rosenberg has long been a proponent of setting policy through the legislature rather than the ballot. Currently, the chairmen of the Labor and Workforce Development Committee are negotiating with interest groups around proposals that would mandate paid family and medical leave and raise the minimum wage.

Rosenberg said he hopes a legislative agreement will be reached to keep those off the ballot. He suggested that it might also be possible to combine those negotiations with discussion of a sales tax reduction.

Massachusetts retailers are proposing a ballot question to reduce the state sales tax. While it is not directly connected with the family leave and minimum wage questions, which a coalition of labor and liberal organizing groups are pushing, all three would affect businesses.

Rosenberg said potentially, the three question can be "on the table and in the picture at the same time," since some of the interest groups are the same and may be willing to trade compromises in one area for accomplishments in another.

Rosenberg also said he wants to "set the stage" for how Massachusetts would spend the approximately $2 billion it could get for education and transportation if residents pass a constitutional amendment raising taxes on income over $1 million.

The Supreme Judicial Court is currently considering the constitutionality of the amendment. Polling shows that if it makes it onto the ballot, voters are generally supportive.

"We need to begin thinking about how those dollars would be invested so we get the biggest bang for our buck," Rosenberg said. "We can be in better shape if the ballot question passes than if we wait until after the ballot question passes and start planning."

Rosenberg, who has always been private about his personal life, today appears thrilled to be discussing the nitty-gritty of policy as opposed to the politics of scandal.

One of his top priorities for this legislative session, he said, is passing a climate change bill. The Senate Committee on Global Warming and Climate Change recently released a comprehensive bill that includes a myriad of policy changes to boost the use of clean energy.

The proposal is likely to be a tough sell in the House, but it will set the stage for discussions on what pieces of the bill, if any, can move forward.

Rosenberg noted that many of the pieces were in the Senate's energy bill last session, but there was not time to act on them once the bill made it to a conference committee.

"If both the House and Senate could act earlier this time, there would be a longer period of time for the conference committee to work out differences," Rosenberg said.

Among the parts of the bill Rosenberg considers most important: increasing renewable energy portfolio standards; implementing a market-driven carbon policy, such as a carbon tax; addressing energy use in transportation; and ensuring ratepayers are investing in solar, wind, hydropower and renewable energy, as opposed to "big centralized plants and pipelines."

Rosenberg said he also hopes lawmakers can complete negotiations on criminal justice overhauls and pass a housing bond bill.

While he was president, Rosenberg instituted a model he referred to as "shared leadership," which gave more power to committee chairmen and concentrated less power in the hands of the Senate president than had been traditional.

Asked whether that model will disappear without him, Rosenberg said he thinks the members will demand that it continue, even if some elements are different.

"I think shared leadership is a feature now which doesn't go away," he said.

Western Massachusetts risks losing political clout, with Rosenberg out as Senate president and long-time Reps. Stephen Kulik and John Scibak retiring at the end of this year. But, Rosenberg noted that there are still some leaders from Western Massachusetts, including Lesser and Reps. Peter Kocot and Paul Mark.

Rosenberg said he will continue to look out for his district's priorities in budget and bond bills. He noted that seniority builds quickly in a body with significant turnover.

"We'll still have plenty of clout, and the new people who will be elected will be talented people who will have an opportunity to rise as well," he said.